The disempowerment narrative is largely woven throughout Edwidge Danticat's postcolonial novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory . With a heavy emphasis on the politics of the domestic sphere and the stories told between women, the novel covers the childhood and young adulthood of Edwidge's main protagonist, Sophie Caco, highlighting the ways in which Sophie experiences social limitations and cultural. What is perhaps most striking throughout the text is how Sophie is given a plethora of opportunities, but is systematically limited in her ability to bring about real change. Sophie's changing family relationships – with her mother and her husband – particularly highlight this illusion of opportunity. Her unsuccessful journey through these relationships speaks to the ways in which cultural norms trap Sophie, while marriage – something commonly portrayed as an idealized, cherished opportunity – instead deepens Sophie's sexual phobia, heightening her disillusionment with of one's own body and, ultimately, one's identity. Throughout Breath, Eyes, Memory, Danticat depicts the illusion of opportunity through her construction of Sophie's parallel relationships with Joseph and Martine in order to explain her powerlessness and entrapment in constructions of ideal Haitian womanhood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay In her construction of what appears at first glance to be an ideal opportunistic narrative, Danticat highlights Sophie's infatuation with Joseph, particularly how it stems from his desire to escape life with his mother. During Sophie's first encounters with Joseph, he compliments her several times, stating, "You are such a beautiful woman" (Danticat 75), only to have Sophie respond, "Do you think I am a woman?" You are the first person to call me that” (Danticat 75). This repetition of the word “woman” denotes a change in the way Sophie is perceived: no longer a child but a woman. So, at that moment, she is offered the opportunity to move beyond her status as a young girl and progress toward adulthood, which is traditionally seen as liberating. Sophie's echoing of the term also illustrates her infatuation with the statement, as it allows her to view herself as something that has never been referred to before, constructing a new ideal for her maturity. In describing her potential to transition from girl to woman, Joseph offers Sophie the opportunity and aspiration to occupy a more mature title of womanhood and adulthood. This change in how she is perceived embodies the opportunity Sophie sees in being with Joseph, particularly in relation to the restrictive relationship she has with her mother. In addition, the use of the diction “first” also contributes to the construction of an opportunistic statement. . By using this diction, Danticat is able to build a sense of newness and change, emphasizing the opportunity Sophie sees in a relationship with Joseph. The scene of opportunity is also highlighted by Danticat's use of light imagery, as she writes: "we watched the morning sky lighten" (Danticat 75). The use of the personal pronoun “we” creates a sense of unity between Sophie and Joseph, while the imagery of a lightening sky depicts a scene of vast opportunity in order to construct a traditionally opportunistic narrative. Thus, Sophie's first interactions with Joseph follow the rhetoric of a traditional opportunist narrative in order to express her desire to establish anew relationship. However, Danticat begins to deconstruct this narrative of opportunity through the parallels she draws between Joseph and Sophie's mother, Martine. Through the similarities of these characters, the reader begins to see the progression of Sophie's loss of power as well as her disillusionment with her relationships. When speaking with her grandmother, Sophie's description of her relationship with Joseph is systematically paralleled with that with her mother, merging intimacy with her husband with her mother's practice of testing. The need to escape her husband is what denotes the failed narrative of opportunity, as Sophie proclaims that leaving her husband “is only a short vacation” (Danticat 122). The vacation image denotes her desire for isolation and escape – a marked dichotomy compared to the closeness she first felt with Joseph. Additionally, Danticat's use of negative language to describe the breakdown of marriage highlights the disintegration of opportunities. While marriage to Joseph was initially described as ideal and liberating, Sophie is now confronted with the constraints and difficulties of her “marital duties” (Danticat 122). The depiction of these “duties” highlights Sophie's disregard for her role as a wife – and particularly as a sexual partner – as this harsh depiction denotes feelings of responsibility and obligation rather than love. Additionally, Sophie's description of “the night” (Danticat 122) with Joseph is lined with dark and frightening images. Describing to her grandmother how she “can't play” and her “problems with the night” (Danticat 122), she proclaims: “It's very painful for me…I have no desire. I feel like it’s a bad thing to do” (Danticat 122). These projections of pain act as a physical limitation on Sophie's opportunities, as she is held back by her own husband and, more importantly, by her own body. These restrictions on her freedom show that although the marriage seemed opportunistic, Sophie was only deluded, for her marriage – like her mother's previous ordeals – brings much pain and sorrow. The image of Sophie's sexuality as something intrinsically “bad” (Danticat 122) allows for the continuity of social ideals – particularly those surrounding femininity – that the test conveys. By describing and defining female worth and honor as concepts dependent on purity, Sophie is limited, even within the sexuality of her own marriage, by the primordial cultural limitations imposed on her by the tests - a practice to which she was subjected long before even meeting her husband. Perhaps what is most striking about Danticat's destruction of Sophie's perceived opportunity is the way in which she creates continuity between her protagonist's situations with her husband and mother. As Sophie talks relentlessly to her grandmother about the strains of her marriage and subsequent sexual obligations, she is immediately followed by the question of testing. After declaring the evils she associates with sex, her grandmother asks her: “Your mother? Has she ever tested you? (Danticat 123). By immediately following a discussion of sex and intimacy with an investigation into testing, Danticat demonstrates how this construct is so deeply tied to the notion of female sexuality and femininity. The blending of present and past narratives through this question once again demonstrates Sophie's entrapment in the circumstances of these social norms. Her grandmother poses the question of past tests as if they were intrinsically linked to her current sexual behaviors, thus demonstrating the way in which these rather restrictive and disempowering norms are.